Shuggy's story. The fight begins!!!

[Shuggy]

Hello guys, I've been a frequent reader of stories on here but I think it's about time I started my own but firstly thank you to everyone who has discussed the problem, it's helped me realise I'm not alone.

I am 27 years old from the UK and beginning to feel the fear of losing my hair. Looking back at pictures I've had a slow gradual loss of hair from about 2 years ago. Mid 2011 I started getting various comments about thinning hair. This coincided with the time I started noticing quite a few hairs falling out when shampooing.

A friend with a similar problem was using 'the P word' and said it was helping them maintain their hair. Being happy with that I bought a supply of them without really doing much research. Anyway I felt like it had reduced the shed of hair a little but not entirely so I started reading up on here.

After 6 months on 'the P' I dropped it this March and decided to replace it with Saw Palmetto. I have continued to shed about 10-20 hairs per shampoo so I bit the bullet and three days ago I started on Regaine Foam 5% and Nizoral 2% shampoo (with saw and multivitamins). The finasteride stories have frightened me off that for now.

I am very worried about my hair loss now though. I have always spiked my hair up in a small mohawk so it hasn't really showed up until I saw a picture of the top of my head!! Frightening!!!

So this is why I'm here. Hopefully I haven't started the fight too late and I will document my progress. I would also much appreciate any thoughts/words of encouragement and advice anyone may have. Wish me luck.....

 

[Shuggy]

Here are some pictures I've take to begin with.
It looks like I'm going very thin on the top back to my crown. My crown doesn't seem too bad even when wet it's just from there forward.

I can't tell what Norwood I am as I don't really have any bald spots. I am however receeding further up my right side quicker. I have a cow lick and this seems to have taken the beating first.

I find it quite hard to apply the Regaine foam. It feels like most of it is absorbing into my hair instead of my scalp.
Fingers crossed I can repair some of this damage with my current regime.

 

[israelite]

finasteride would restore your hair density! talk to dr about possilbe sides from finasteride

 

[Shuggy]

Thanks for your reply. Yeah I've looked into it a lot on here. Lots positive but quite a few negative putting me off for now. I am not sure where is best to go to get finasteride in the uk even after I've seen a doctor.

 

[Kirby]

Any regular GP can prescribe finasteride, but you'll have to cover the cost of the medicine yourself as the NHS won't pay for finasteride for hair loss.

Try finasteride if you aim to save your hair, don't be put off by side effects stories, if you try it and get sides at least you'll know that you tried. Look in the Success Stories folder for inspiration. finasteride is proven to work, "natural" snake oil like saw palmetto isn't!

 

[polarism]

I feel your pain, Shuggy, and understand your reluctant nature in starting on Propecia. As much as I hate taking medications, I bit the bullet years ago and started on it myself, around 25 or so. I was actually more terrified of the side effects of Rogaine than Propecia!

I started out with a thinning crown and vertex/temporal regions - not bad all in all, as I caught it very early, but bad enough for me to feel the urge to start on something effective. Knowing that Propecia was one of my only real, proven options, I knew what had to be done. Plus, the only side effects I would get would be moobs (which I knew I'd be able to feel forming in time to stop taking), a decreased libido (something I didn't care about as if I lost my hair, I'd feel myself too undesirable to need to worry about it), and acne (who cares... already had/have it) or reduced acne (a bonus!). However, my dermatologist also mentioned rare cases of cardiac arrest. That's the one that got me. It took me a week or so after that to fill the prescription. But fill it and keep filling it I did. I figured I'd rather be dead than lose my hair! And the sentiment remains.

I've been on Propecia now for 8-10 years, doing nothing else. Within a few months of starting up, my vertex/temporal recession stopped, and my crown thickened up, with no further loss. I experienced zero symptoms - no crazy sheds I read about and feared, no "breast" tenderness, an increased libido, no mind fog (no more so than usual), and so on.

Only now am I experiencing issues; in that Propecia has stopped working and I seem to be reverting to the point I would/should be at without it - fast. I plan to check with my doctor ASAP about upping the dosage via Proscar, or taking two Propecias, or even starting on Adovart. I'm so desperate I'm even considering... Rogaine!

However, to have had 8-10 years added to my life, was well worth $80/month and the fear of side effects that never came to be. If only the effect would have lasted longer for me. But this thread is about you. And to you, good sir, I wish the best of luck.

 

[Shuggy]

Quick update on events happening within week 1. First off thank you Israelite, Kirby and Polarism for your advice. I've since been reading much further on the finasteride front and with yours' and others advice I think I'm going to take the plunge.

Part of the reason is the way I've reacted to Regaine. From the 5 days I've been using it I have noticed two things.
Firstly I have already started shedding quite a bit. Although I must stress this might just be because I've been rubbing my head morning and night.

Secondly (and more importantly) I have had a very heavy heartbeat and a dull ache around my heart for the last 3 days on Regaine. I have been taking resting heart rate measurements every morning and this has not really fluctuated from my usual, it just feels like theres more of a thump to my chest. Quite worrying so unfortunately at such an early stage I'm going to stop it and may try again in future.

I am making a docs appointment and going to try finasteride. I think this may be better for me anyway as I was already stressing by day 5 studying my head in detail when applying minoxidil. A pill a day will get my mind off the current obsession. I'll try not to read the scaremongering posts on here. (Have you all read that there is a man going on hunger strike outside the merck headquarters because of the sides he experienced?) :shock:

 

[Shuggy]

Finally been given the go ahead to get on finasteride. I wonder if someone could point me in the direction of where to buy in the UK. I was looking at the generic finasteride but so many sites seem a bit suspect but I also don't have the money to spend on Propecia.

Does anyone have decent tried and tested online pharmacies to snap it up?

Thanks

 

[2025]

just google Inhouse Pharmacy, I've been buying from them for years and it works great

 

[Shuggy]

just google Inhouse Pharmacy, I've been buying from them for years and it works great

Cheers mate. There's only fincar and finpecia in stock. I assume there is no difference between propecia and finpecia apart from the brand and huge price difference is there? Don't want to be reducing the quality of it buying cheap.

 

[DMH]

This is quite similar to my hairloss pattern, the middle of your head is thinning out quicker than the other parts.
Best of luck on your journey

 

[Shuggy]

Hi unspoken. Yeah I just read your story this morning too. Looks identical. Have you decided on finasteride and if so are you going generic with finpecia or something?

Good luck to you too. Fingers crossed for us both.

 

[DMH]

Yes mate i decided on finasteride, Gonna get proscar, it's way cheaper (32$). will cut the pill to 5 parts (1mg/day)

Hopefully we'll make it through with absolutely no side effects from finasteride.

 

[Shuggy]

That's great price.£56 for pack of 28 in UK. Just the worry of different dosage when cutting into 5. Think I might start on 0.5mg to see how i go then up it if all is well.

 

[DMH]

How are you gonna cut a 5mg of proscar pill into 10 ? as i remember five is barely doable.

 

[Shuggy]

Haha sorry I didn't make it clear. Just meant that 5mg tablets would be impossible so was looking at finpecia which is a 1mg tablet then Split it in two.

 

[Shuggy]

Ok well my Finpecia has arrived from Inhouse. Going to start on it tomorrow so wish me luck guys. If anyone has any comments regarding finpecia I'd love to hear them.

I'm going to start on 0.5mg for a week or so to see if I avoid the sides.

 

[Finner]

HI mate. I am in almost the same situation as you, except your hair has thinned a little more than mine, but not by much at all. I ordered Finpecia from in-house pharmacy. Then ordered Fincar and split 4 ways. Fincar works out about £50.a year.

I started 0.5mg for 6 weeks to see how I felt. Didn't notice anything so upped to 1.25mg. Still nothing. Dont expect side effects. I don't know much about hairless but I know the difference between personal testimony and double-blind placebo controlled studies. Good luck.

- - - Updated - - -

HI mate. I am in almost the same situation as you, except your hair has thinned a little more than mine, but not by much at all. I ordered Finpecia from in-house pharmacy. Then ordered Fincar and split 4 ways. Fincar works out about £50.a year.

I started 0.5mg for 6 weeks to see how I felt. Didn't notice anything so upped to 1.25mg. Still nothing. Dont expect side effects. I don't know much about hairless but I know the difference between personal testimony and double-blind placebo controlled studies. Good luck.

.

 

[Shuggy]

Cheers finner. really appreciate the positive advice especially with just starting. How long have you been using finasteride then? I assume you are a diffuse thinner too?

 

[Finner]

Looking at your photos again, your crown is thicker than mine, but my hairline is thicker, so overall we are in a pretty similar situation. Yeah, i'm a diffuse thinner (only based on a few readings from this forum, not sure this type of diffuse thinning is actually a medical term, I think it usually refers to complete hair thinning including back and sides and not as a result of androgenic alopecia. I might be wrong about this though).

I got proper Propecia to start with, forked out something like £42 quid from chemist direct. I was on half a tablet (0.5mg) a day for 6 weeks just to see if I had any side effects. When I take any new drugs or medication I always take half dose for a few days as a conservative approach (i'm not sure for a drug like Finasteride that this approach is necessarily worth it, its just habit from my younger days experimenting with other stuff!). I had no side effects (as expected because there is about a 1% chance) so upped the dose to 1mg for another week and was fine. I then crunched the numbers and thought, sh*t this is going to cost a lot of cash over the years so researched generics and then bought Finpecia from inhouse pharmacy, then I thought I might as well by Fincar and quater the price again. Fincar daily dose = around £50 a year, Merck Propecia = £500 a year. Over the years we are talking thousands of pounds(!!!).


I take the Fincar at night and use Nizarol 2% off Amazon, every other day. I take an all-in-one multivitamin every day and a strong biotin every other day (biotin is probably unnecessary and I would never be able to tell if it is doing anything vs the Finasteride anyway, but it is cheap and water soluable so might as well).


I've now been on Finasteride for about 10 weeks. Scalp feels nice, hair is not thinning any more, no regrowth though. I should really take photos and log my progress, but after about 2 days of thinking sh*t my hair is going, I thought f**k it, i will do what is reasonable - get on Finasteride, give it 18 months and then see where to go from there.

I might upload some photos this weekend.

Take it easy.